美国学生人类历史 第153期:十字军东征(2)

 Pope Urban II, a Frenchman from Reims, who had been educated at the same famous cloister¹ of Cluny which had trained Gregory VII, thought that the time had come for action. 当时在位的是教皇乌尔班二世。此人生于法国的雷姆斯，在格利高里七世受教过的著名的克吕厄修道院接受过教育。他想，现在是应该采取行动的时候了。

The general state of Europe was far from satisfactory. 当时欧洲的状况不仅远不能令人满意，甚至称其糟糕也不为过。

The primitive² agricultural methods of that day(unchanged since Roman times) caused a constant scarcity³ of food. 由于依然采用原始的农耕方法（自罗马时代一直未曾改进过），欧洲经常处于粮食短缺的危险状态。

There was unemployment and hunger and these are apt to lead to discontent and riots. 大量的失业与饥荒蔓延，很容易引起民怨沸腾，最终导致无法收拾的动乱。

Western Asia in older days had fed millions. 而西亚自古以来就是丰足的粮仓，养活着成百上千万人口，

It was an excellent field for the purpose of immigration. 无疑是个理想的移民场所。

Therefore at the council of Clermont in France in the year 1095 the Pope arose, described the terrible horrors which the infidels had inflicted⁴ upon the Holy Land, 于是公元1095年，在法国的克莱蒙特会议上，教皇乌尔班二世突然拍案而起，先是痛诉异教徒践踏圣地的种种恐怖行为，

gave a glowing description of this country which ever since the days of Moses had been overflowing⁵ with milk and honey, 接着又娓娓描绘这块流着奶和蜜的圣地自摩西时代以来是如何滋养着万千基督徒的动人图景。

and exhorted⁶ the knights⁷ of France and the people of Europe in general to leave wife and child and deliver Palestine from the Turks. 最后，他激励法国的骑士们和欧洲的普通人民鼓起斗志，抛开妻子儿女，去将巴勒斯坦从土耳其人的奴役中解放出来。

A wave of religious hysteria swept across the continent. 不久，一股不可遏止的宗教歇斯底里地席卷了整个欧洲。

All reason stopped. Men would drop their hammer and saw, walk out of their shop and take the nearest road to the east to go and kill Turks. 理性的思想停止了。人们纷纷扔掉铁锤和锯子，冲出商店，义无返顾地踏上最近的道路，前往东方去杀土耳其人。

Children would leave their homes to "go to Palestine" and bring the terrible Turks to their knees by the mere⁸ appeal of their youthful zeal⁹ and Christian¹⁰ piety¹¹. 连小孩子也吵着要离家去巴勒斯坦，以他们幼稚的热情和基督徒的虔诚感化土耳其人，呼吁他们悔改。

Fully¹² ninety percent of those enthusiasts¹³ never got within sight of the Holy Land. 不过在这些的狂热信徒中，90％的人连看一眼圣地的机会都没有。

They had no money. They were forced to beg or steal to keep alive. 他们通常身无分文，被迫沿途乞讨或偷盗以维持生计。

They became a danger to the safety of the highroads and they were killed by the angry country people. 他们影响大路交 通的安全，往往为愤怒的乡民所杀。

1 cloister   

n.修道院；v.隐退，使与世隔绝

参考例句：

• They went out into the stil,shadowy cloister garden.他们出了房间，走到那个寂静阴沉的修道院的园子里去。
• The ancient cloister was a structure of red brick picked out with white stone.古老的修道院是一座白石衬托着的红砖建筑物。

2 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

3 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

4 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

5 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

6 exhorted   

v.劝告，劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The party leader exhorted his members to start preparing for government. 该党领袖敦促党员着手准备筹建政府。
• He exhorted his elder. 他规劝长辈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 knights   

骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马

参考例句：

• stories of knights and fair maidens 关于骑士和美女的故事
• He wove a fascinating tale of knights in shining armour. 他编了一个穿着明亮盔甲的骑士的迷人故事。

8 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

9 zeal   

n.热心，热情，热忱

参考例句：

• Revolutionary zeal caught them up,and they joined the army.革命热情激励他们，于是他们从军了。
• They worked with great zeal to finish the project.他们热情高涨地工作，以期完成这个项目。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

11 piety   

n.虔诚，虔敬

参考例句：

• They were drawn to the church not by piety but by curiosity.他们去教堂不是出于虔诚而是出于好奇。
• Experience makes us see an enormous difference between piety and goodness.经验使我们看到虔诚与善意之间有着巨大的区别。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 enthusiasts   

n.热心人，热衷者( enthusiast的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• A group of enthusiasts have undertaken the reconstruction of a steam locomotive. 一群火车迷已担负起重造蒸汽机车的任务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Now a group of enthusiasts are going to have the plane restored. 一群热心人计划修复这架飞机。 来自新概念英语第二册